Allan Lengel, editor of ticklethewire.com, is a veteran journalist who has covered law enforcement at major publications including the Washington Post and the Detroit News. He also served as an intern under the late investigative columnist Jack Anderson and was an adjunct journalism professor at the University of Maryland.
We Have a Right to Bear Arms; We Also Have a Right to Live
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com I’m all for the right to bear arms. The constitution says we can. That being said, guns and semi-automatic rifles are a dangerous enough commodity — like prescription morphine and oxycodone — that they need to be regulated — particularly when they end up in the hands of…
Did Washington Not Understand ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious?
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com After talking to some folks and watching the latest Congressional hearings on ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious, I’m beginning to think the Rep. Darrell Issa and Sen. Chuck Grassley aren’t going to find what they’re looking for — that is: Who at the Justice Department gave the Ok for the operation…
Note to Joe Biden — Give Secret Service Back the $13,000
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com What better way to show gratitude to the folks who protect your life than to charge them so they can protect your life? Makes sense? No! I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. After all, when you take into account the real costs of providing executive protection,…
Ouch! Make ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious Mess Go Away
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com OUCH! Make it stop. It’s becoming all too painful to see the Congressional probe into ATF’s highly-flawed operation dubbed Fast and Furious. Rep. Darrell Issa and Sen. Charles Grassley have been leading the charge into the investigation of the operation that encouraged Arizona gun dealers to sell to straw purchasers, all…
ATF’s Melson May Have a Second Wind; Should FBI Have Used Violent Gun Smuggler as Informant?
By Allan Lengel ticklethewire.com With the storm surrounding ATF’s Operation Fast and Furious getting more intense by the day, I thought it was time to step back and make some observations. One: Acting ATF Director Ken Melson, who seemed like a dead man walking earlier this monthafter word got out that he was going to…